Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Not exactly the happiest time for me and some of my friends, but we'll go through the motions and try our best to make merry. I, for one, will be grateful when it's all over.

There's always next year to look forward to with the hope that 2015 will be better.

It's times like this that I wish for the simpler days of yore where we weren't constantly blasted with news of terrible events and hyped-up reports designed to scare the heck out of us.

The lies posted on so-called "mainstream media" have made many lose their own sense of what is right. People have been manipulated into voting against their own best interests because the media has been complicit in pandering to the worst fears and prejudices of the general public. Christmas has become a huge retail greed event as evidenced by the insanity of "Black Friday" shopping.

I have fond memories of Christmases years ago where family gathered and shared in the spirit of the season. We went to Midnight Mass; we gave as much as we could to the Salvation Army; and our Christmas Dinner table was full of friends and relatives, many of whom would have been alone for the holidays.

That is the Christmas Season in my mind. Sharing, not getting. Kindness, not self-satisfaction. Reflection, not judgment.

And most of all, humility. Christ was born is a stable, we are told. How is it that all this overblown salute to conspicuous consumerism is in any way related to Christ's humble beginning?

It's a question that I ask myself every year and am still waiting for the answer.